


Alright now.

by RedStarFiction



Category: Outlander & Related Fandoms, Outlander (TV), Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-04
Updated: 2016-05-04
Packaged: 2018-06-06 09:09:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6747805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedStarFiction/pseuds/RedStarFiction





	Alright now.

“Jamie.”  
Murtagh’s voice, rough and rich as soil came to him in the early dawn and Jamie forced himself to lift his head.  
“Come laddie, raise yeself.”  
Jamie waited for the pain but it didn’t come. His body ached with cold and with hunger but the pain in his back never came.  
“Am I dead, Godfather?”  
“No, a chridhe, ye’re no’ dead. It’s another day for ye.”  
A blackbird sang out in the distance and Jamie’s eyes traced the arc of sound to the mouth of the cave. The cave. Ah. So. Not Fort William then.  
He blinked and felt a drift of cold air brush his cheek as the ghost of his godfather left him.  
“Buidheachas.”  
Jamie murmured, grimacing as his joints adjusted to waking movements. The blackbird called out to his mate again and Jamie listened for the answering call. The surrounding area was eerily quiet, for once the pattering of rain was absent and he knew it would be a good morning to hunt. His stomach rumbled in agreement and he shrugged irritably at himself.   
“It’s time to kill yesel’ if ye canna even muster the energy to move of o’ ye hairy arse!”  
He scolded himself quietly, the Gaelic smooth and welcome on his tongue, sustaining him in the absence of food.  
He raised himself to a crouch and cobweb stretching down from the roof of the cave tickled his nose. All at once his Sassenach came to him, her amber eyes smiling up at him from underneath dark lashes as they embrace, her wild curls tickling his face and tumbling through his fingers.   
Jamie didn’t dare breath for fear of losing her image, so much stronger than a memory and warmer than a ghost. It was the warmth that reassured him she was still alive, for surely she could not still warm him so if she was dead?   
“Claire…”  
He whispered her name, unable to stop himself and she placed a small kiss on his bottom lip, the taste of honey still faintly traceable on her breath.   
“Time to move, Jamie.”  
“I dinna want to Sorcha.”  
Jamie’s voice cracked and she raised a gentle hand to his cheek  
“Strength, love. You must keep your strength.”  
His lip quirked up as he laid his hand over the top of hers  
“Ye ne’er called me ‘love’.”  
“Perhaps not in so many words…”  
His wife’s apparition shrugged and stepped backwards drawing him out with her into the weak sunlight of the early day.   
Jamie breathed deeply and looked to his left expecting Claire to be gone, as she always was once he left his shelter but today she was still there beside him, her skin, hair and clothing all translucent but there all the same.   
“Sassenach? What …”  
“I’ll see you again Jamie, not for a long time yet, but I will see you.”  
Claire kept her eyes trained on the fringe of trees ahead of them as she spoke, but her fingers twined with his, so firm and solid that he startled, gripping her hand as hard as he could.  
“Claire! Are ye here mo nighean donn …?”  
“Not yet,”  
A small sad smile tugged at her mouth but still she did not look at him  
“But I promise you that I will be one day. My flesh will know your flesh again and my heart will rest against your heart. But until then…”  
She turned her face up to him, eyes burning with a fever he had not seen before  
“You must keep getting up each morning; you must feed yourself and maintain yourself. Don’t give up on me Jamie, promise me!”   
Jamie nodded, clasping her warm fingers to his cold chest and pressing a kiss to each pale knuckle  
“I’ll try mo duinne. I’ll try.”  
“Promise me!”  
“I promise.”  
Jamie straightened and held her gaze as steadily as his could, his legs suddenly weak.  
“I will come for you.”  
Claire loosened her fingers from his and stepped back from him and Jamie knew better than to try and follow. He slowly sank into a crouch and watched her fade away from him, his promise and her touch still tangible on his lips.  
Her hand came out of the air before his eyes, holding a frog shaped wooden pin.  
“Have you seen the other one of these?”  
Jamie jerked his head back and blinked like a startled owl as Claire looked at him expectantly, Jem balanced on her hip.  
“I… What?”  
Jamie shook his head to clear it and a small frown creased Claire’s brow. The big house was in utter chaos with a rather over-zealous spring clean in progress and Jem was down to his last clean diaper.  
“Never mind!”  
She huffed turning away and upending a pile of laundry to rummage beneath it. Jamie’s hands on her waist stilled her and he gently turned her to face him, taking Jem onto his own hip in the same movement.  
“Forgive me Sassenach, I was miles away … a different time, ken?”  
Claire’s minor irritation evaporated and she reached up to feel his forehead  
“A fever?”  
“No, nothin’ o’ the like. Just lost in my thoughts.”  
“Alright now?”  
She asked and Jamie nodded a huge grin lighting his face   
“Och aye lass, everything is alright now.”  
*


End file.
